Amyris Biotechnologies

By Bryan WalshThursday, Apr. 17, 2008

Shayin Gottlieb / Amyris

Food versus fuel. That debate has held back progress in biofuels, which
offer the promise of a low-carbon substitute for petroleum, but whose
development could also exacerbate deforestation and other environmental
ills. But what if you could genetically engineer a better brand of biofuel
 one that's richer in energy and lower in carbon? That's exactly what
Jack Newman and his team at Amyris Biotechnologies are doing. Biofuel is
often made by unleashing bacteria or yeast on a feedstock, like corn or
sugarcane  through fermentation, the microbes convert the energy
contained in the feedstock into a fuel like ethanol. Amyris can tweak the
genetic structure of those microbes, turning them into better fuel factories
and creating ethanols and biodiesel that are far superior to those made
directly from plants like corn or sugar cane. The result could be biofuel
that is cheaper than petroleum and a lot more environmentally friendly, with
a carbon footprint 80% smaller than oil's. Newman and his colleagues have
already used their synthetic biology techniques to make affordable malaria
medicine  now they just have to take on climate change. "We can make any
molecule we put our mind to," says Newman. "There's no question in my mind
 technology can save us."